Homemade Sausages (Domáce Klobásy)

In this recipe, I show you how to prepare home-made sausage (klobása), the way my grandma makes them. I may be little biased, but there is nothing better than a real Slovak sausage! They are even better smoked (údené). Slovak sausages are pretty similar to the Hungarian variety. When I lived in Lancaster, California, I was lucky to be close to a real treasure: a little shack in the middle of the Mojave desert called “The Valley Hungarian”. That shop had an amazing selection of smoked sausages, very similar to the ones my grandma makes. Unfortunately, sausages like that are very hard to find.

Slovak sausages are somewhat similar to the German bratwurst, but are less juicy and whole lot more peppery. Spices used in making of a Slovak sausage are garlic, sweet and spicy red pepper, and caraway. You will also need ground pork, sausage casings and a way to feed the sausages. The recipe below shows you the traditional way of making sausages as done during zabíjačka. It involves grinding pork in a meat grinder (mlynček na mäso). You may have hard time finding these in America. You may want to skip this step and start with store-bought ground meat. However, you will need some device to feed the meet into the casings, and the casings themselves. We used pig intestines (črevá).

We used a “No. 10” Porkert meat grinder, dating all the way back to 1954! It consists of the housing, a feeding spiral, a four-blade knife, and an exit plate with circular holes through which the meat comes out.

Cut the raw meat into pieces which will fit into the grinder. Grind the meat. You will probably need to disassemble and clean the grinder few times to remove the tendons that like to wrap around the blades.

Then add about 2 cloves of crushed garlic (postrúhaný cesnak, too much garlic will make your burp!), two teaspoons of ground black pepper (mleté čierne korenie), about 1.5 teaspoons of salt (soľ), a small teaspoon of caraway (rasca), about 4 teaspoons of paprika (sladká paprika), and another teaspoon of crushed spicy red pepper (štipľavá paprika, if you like it hot). Mix together. Then remove the blades and the exit grid, and replace with a feeder tube. The sausage mix was really popular with the cat. She even managed to grab a good chunk of meat out of my hand as I was feeding the sausages!

Next take the washed intestines (črevá). You need to make sure they don’t have holes in them. This is done by blowing into the intestine and seeing if it inflates like a balloon. Then roll a 2-meter long intestine onto the feeder tube. Tie a knot at the open end. If you end up with an air bubble, take a sewing pin and puncture a hole or two.

Next comes the fun part: making sausages. This is a two person operation, with one person feeding the meat into the grinder, and another adjusting the output. You want the meat to be packed quite stiff and especially uniform. This will take bit of practice. I helped with this step for a while, but my grandma was much better at it. So I mostly worked the grinder. Tie a knot at the other end as well.

You now have one 2 meter long sausage – bit too much to eat in one sitting. To turn it into more manageable pieces, grab the sausage about 15 cm from one end. Pinch there and push the meat to the sides. Then twist the free end around two times. Fold over, and cut the other end off. Then push out some of the meat from the open end back into the grinder and twist the casing shut. This doesn’t have to be too tight; the meat mixture is quite viscous and won’t drip out.

If you also decide to prepare hurky (rice sausage), follow the same steps, except that the open ends must be tied shut with a string. It’s probably best to clean the grinder before making hurky, otherwise you may end up with pieces of sausage in your hurka (the red chunks). Typically, the wider beef intestines are used for hurky, and the thinner pork intestines are used for sausages. Place sausages on a wooden stick and then off with them to the smokehouse.

Or if you don’t have a smokehouse, just bake them, grill them or fry them fresh. These turned out delicious! The photo shows the typical zabíjačka platter: baked sausage and hurka, with a side of mustard, baked potatoes and beets. Dobrú chuť!

Thanks Joe – maybe you could tell the authors of the recipe about this site. My goal is let more people know about Slovak cuisine. It’s really tasty, easy to prepare, and completely unknown in the world.

Just bought cream sausage (klobasy) from Casey’s Market in Naperville, Illinois $4.50/# in rounds w/wooden rod. We asked the butcher, who got it from the freezer. Had it last night & it was just what I remembered as a kid. Glad it was frozen because we put it in our carryon luggage – 6# total & it was still frozen when we landed in a Phoenix!

I just got off the phone with my grandma. I called her to find out how to go about smoking sausages. Here is what she said (this is the traditional way):

You take lavór – round wash basin – and make fire in it using wood and saw dust (piliny). You then put a metal sheet, like the kind used for roofing, over it, leaving only few small holes for the smoke to escape. This goes into a wooden outhouse-like structure. Hang the sausages at least 3 meters (10 feet) above the flame. This is very important, if you placed them lower, they would cook or burn. You leave them in here like this for 3 to 3.5 days, making sure the fire keeps burning and making smoke.

darn, I know the principles but it’s hard do do in in apartment. Though there is a hope, I’ll be moving to my gfriend house, in woods, though still controled by the house association. I’ll see if “smoking sausages” would be acceptable. They are very tolerant, dealing mostly with trash, utilities, etc. They don’t even plow the snow so I think “smoke house” would be OK

I use a little chief front loading smoker you can buy at almost any sporting goods store that has a hunting/fishing department. They are electric, compact and you can use it on a balcony (if you are living in an apartment). They work surprisingly well. One hint..don’t throw out the box it comes in…you can use it to intensify the smoke flavor by keeping heat and the smoke from dissipating too quickly.

I just made a batch of sausage with my daughter today. Smoking small batches is simple. You need a 10 gallon can – a metal garbage can is perfect. Then an old pot or coffee can. Get some barbque briquets. Soak them with some starter flluid made for the barbquing and then light the briquets – like barbquing in days of old – wait until the briquets turn white then put some smoking chips – pieces of wood and shavings that can be bought at the store and place on top of the briquets. Put this in the 10 gallon can. Then place some sticks on the top of the 10 gallon can and hang the sausage on the sticks. You dont have to smoke them long if you just want the smoke flavor – 20 to 30 minutes is lots. While smoking you can cover the top with a cloth – because it is a low heat smoke – nothing will burn.

Ron, if I may suggest – you may want to invest in a charcoal chimney starter for starting charcoal. They are only about 10$ maximum at any “Shop-Mart” store and can help you avoid the prospect of eating sausage that is tainted with chemicals. They are very easy to use as well, and will save you money in the long run. Good luck!

Last weekend we made a pork & potato sausage that my Grandma used to make. It was called ‘shleva’ or ‘sheva’, not sure of the spelling. It has both fresh and smoked pork ground with potatoes. Have you ever heard of it?

Hi Jonathon,
My grandparents were from Czechoslovakia. They made a sausage called Shreva which included pork, potatoes, garlic, caraway seed, salt, pepper & paprika. Not sure if it’s what you remembered but I have the recipe if you want it.

We raised two pigs this summer and made one batch of sausage following this recipe. We ate some fresh, not smoked, and it was delicious! Loved the red pepper and caraway together. Next year we’ll make more and try smoking it too.
thanks!

Arie – I believe you will enjoy great success if you are able to smoke with oak, apple or possibly cherry – also, plum or apricot should work well. I am guessing that these would be the most “authentic” as far as smoking wood that woiould be found in Slovakia. If anyone from the region has any other suggestions, I would love to hear them and will try them, if I am able to.

If you do not have any of these woods available, any fruit or nut stree should work well. Mesquite and similar woods might be too strong or harsh, so they should probably be avoided. Pine, spruce, or other similar trees, as well as woods such as elm should be avoided, as they release toxins that will make you sick.

If you are smoking sausage, be sure to use a known curing agent in an amount that is adequate by weight for the amount of sausage you are making. This will prevent food-borne illness, which can develop during a long smoking period in the “danger zone” of 40 to 140 degrees (Fahrenheit).

Hi, We used to make Kushke, Not sure how to spell it, with ground up Pork head meat, rice with pork blood and barley plain. The main ingredients was the ground pork, lots of garlic, salt, pepper and sweet marjorum. I am looking for the recipe like we made. It is not a sweet type blood sausage. Thank you, Elaine

We have learned about these great sausages thanks to a young couple who run a market stall twice a week here in Horsham, West Sussex (UK). I love their Klobasa and thanks to reading Keith Richards’ autobiography, which teaches that sausages of any type must be cooked VERY slowly, I have really come to appreciate their texture and flavour. Here’s a recipe I created that uses Klobasa:

SLOW cook the sausages, NO FAT/OIL, lowest flame poss, for 45 mins. Keep an eye on them but be careful, they will spit! Set aside. Fry onions in sausage fat for 5 mins, add garlic, celery, leeks and pepper and fry for a further 5 mins. Slice the cooked sausages and add to the pan. Season. Cook for 20 or so mins, until the fat in the sausages starts to render out. Stir in the cream and cook until well blended. Serve with tagliatelle/linguine or rice.

important note: for cold or cool smoking involving long smoking times and temperatures in the “danger zone” between 40 and 140 degrees harenheit, you want to use a curing agent for meats, especially sausages. There are lots of them out there to use, but TenderQuick from Morton is probably the most user-friendly. Be sure to follow the instructions or ask someone who knows, if you have questions. Jaternica/hurky doesn’t seem to lend itself well to long cold smoking, so I recommend hot smoke cooking, but for cold-smoking meat sausages such as the klobasy udene, a curing agent is very strongly recommended. Dobru Chut!

Another note (sorry)- If you use Tender Quick, you might weant to cut back on the added salt, because TQ is composed mostly of salt so that the curing agent is distributed better. If you use another cure, such as Cure #1 or InstaCure, you will not need to worry about the salt content and can simply follow the recipe, but you want to make sure that the cure is distributed thoroughly throughout the meat.

Hi I am looking for a recipe for czech sausage called debrinzirnky. I,m not sure if this spelled right. I have made plenty of jiternice, but can seem to a recipe debrinzinky. I can remeber when I was a kid my dat would buy some of this sausage on Long Island New York.

I am making this klobásy right now as we speak ~ I had 4 pounds of freshly-ground fresh pork drop into my lap yesterday, which is exactly the amount needed to try this, so I said, why not? All other ingredients, including some very good Hungarian paprika were at home waiting to be used. The only thing missing was the caraway; I was about to go to the store to get some but my wife insisted that her Slovak grandmother NEVER put caraway in anything, so I decided to keep the peace in the family and leave it out. 😮

The sausage was very easy to make, and I lvoed the wonderful aromas that came from the combination of garlic, paprika, salt and pepper, with a little crushed red pepper added as well. Since I will be smoking it (either in oak or apple, depending on what I have at home), I added a curing agent as required by food safety. I’ve been wanting to try this for a long time and am happy to finally have the opportunity to do so. I truly enjoyed the jaternica/hurky that I made last fall, and am looking forward to sampling this sausage as well.

good going Ron, though there is one thing I am missing in all sausage recipies.

We did sousages and smoke them dry. You did not have to bake/cook them etc. You just sliced them and have it with bread and chease.

I just brought some with me from my trip to slovakia. I think it needs some longer time in a smokehouse. I remember that we took it to a smokehouse at local butcher place and they were ready in about a week (not overnight)

Hello, Miro, and thank you for the kind words – I am very happy that I managed to finally make these very tasty and delicious sausages!

>>>We did sousages and smoke them dry. You did not have to bake/cook them etc. You just sliced them and have it with bread and chease.<<>>I think it needs some longer time in a smokehouse. I remember that we took it to a smokehouse at local butcher place and they were ready in about a week (not overnight)<<<

I agree with this too, and hope that the next time I make them, I will be able to give the klobásy a longer smoke. The overnight smoke was intense, because it was in a small area, but I think a longer smoke would be better because there is also some drying time that happens as well. I will try this the next time I make the sausage, and report on results!

To all who haven't yet tried this recipe: it is easy! go ahead and give it a go. Even if you do not ahve a meat grinder, you can buy ground pork in the grocery story or from your butcher. Also, if you do not have a way to stuff the sausage into casings, you can make them into patties, or even meatballs. The next time I make holubky, I might try this klobása recipe (with rice added) for the filling!

My apologies – part of my reply above was accidentally deleted. I was going to say that regarding the finishing in the oven – I had considered not doing this, but eventually decided to for food safety” reasons because of the pork/trichinosis issue. I know that trichinosis is pretty much eradicated, but old habits die hard! With beef or with deer, I do not worry about these thigns, but with pork, I figure that bringing them up to 155 degrees will not hurt. I am taking some out for this coming holiday and will definitely slice them and serve with cheese, bread and probably some beer. Looking forward to some good food!

Do you suppsoe it would be just as traditional to make klobása with beef? If I had an all-beef sausage, I could eliminate the heating before packaging, and simlpy dry-smoke it without the risk of trichinosis. I could then slice it and and serve it as Miro says, which sounds delicious.

The problem is, of course – if it is made with beef, then it is not made with pork, so this might not be traditional.

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. I have a lot of home-grown beef from our family’s herd of cattle, and if it would be traditional to use beef I can give it a try in an effort to come closer to Miro’s suggestion about dry-smoking and not heating it up before packaging.

Ron, I understand your safety concerns when it comes to sausage making. I guess so did folks in old days. They made sausages for consumption right after a slaughter and then they made a “stuff” which would last many month after it was made. Thus smoking and especially slow smoking/drying was perfected.

It’s the same as drying/smoking salmons by Indian tribes in North West, or making a beef jerky by “horse man” when going for a long journey.

There is nothing new we can improve on “technique” perfected by hundreds of years.

I really appreciate your approach to apply “old ways” to different combo of meat, and presenting it the way you do.

As far as making klobasa from beef? I don’t know, try it. I sure is not traditional as in Slovakia “pork was for eating but beef was for milking”

Thus I say in beef country, aka USA, they have a different approach to preserving meat “beef jerky” or summer sausage as of late in grocery stores.

Go ahead and try it, I think it’ll work, though I still think you will need to smoke/dry it for some time if you want it to last. If you want to use is in a short time, it may be good to go!

Thanks for the comments, Miro – I do prefer to keep things as “traditional” as possible. My goal is always to make a traditional dish that would be recognised as such. I don’t always totally succeed, but I learn a lot from the attempt! I’ve seen “all beef” sausages, but have never triend them much, except from the store. If I want to be traditional Slovak, perhaps I will try to improve my methods with pork incorporating more of the old methods. Thank you for your guidance and wisdom with this! Another project I want to try for my Slovak wife is studenina. Her grandmother mother from Žakarovce made it but passed away before she could teach my wife how to do it. If anyone knows a good, home-style way to make it please let me know or email me. I would like to make it and then share it with the group! Thank you – Ron

Ron, here is a couple of recipees for studenina
I don’t know how good you are in Slovak language, you can “google” studenina recipees and you will get a bunch in slovak language. Process is the same, spices, and seasoning may vary.

anyway two recipes for studenina:

Package of 4 to 8 pig’s feet. (they will be cut in half lenghtwise)
Onions
Garlic cloves
salt dash
Paprika dash
Hold over grill or gas flame to burn off any hair and to slighly char skin.
Put in to stockpot with enough water to cover.
Add salt,onions, garlic cloves, and dash of paprika.
Cook 4-5 hours until meat falls off bones.
Pour into bowls. Let cool.
Refrigerate overnight. Enjoy!
……………….

Thank you for the studenina/huspenina recipes, Miro! I will see about giving these a try around Christmas; I’ll also check with my wife and my mother-in-law to see if they remember anything about how “Grandma Mary” made it. I appreciate the assistance, and will let everyone know how it goes!

In my family this was called huspenina. It probably has half a dozen of other names throughout the country. It was served simply with slice of bread and sliced onion. I haven’t had it for over 20 years but still have “tasty memories”, just like about any pork product. To me, this is as traditional as it gets. Thanks miro for posting it. I know you went back to the old country recently, hope you enjoyed it. I’m always curious about changes in B. Bystrica. My college town and place of the greatest time of my life by far…

Yes, I’ve just came back from the “old country”. Did not make it to B. Bystrica but was in the area. Zvolen, Klokoc, Telgart, Kralova Hola, etc. Spend most of my time with my sister in Bratislava, and my son in Klokoc.

Part of the reason was my high school (Zvolenska priemyslovka) reunion at our 70 years of age. We had it in “Slovensky Raj – Telgart” Good guys, the same as you, I think it was my best part of life, no worries, fun, friendships, etc. Yes, one of my good friends is from B. Bystrica (Lubo Sajban) and we talked about old times and silly stuff we did.

The country is changing and I think the same goes for B. Bystrica. Some is for better, some is for worse. You don’t see anymore much differences between Slovakia and the “West World”. The same products, same stores, same banking system, culture is changing but traditions are kept.

There are some significant problems with Roma population overtaking some area and turning it into slums much worse than the US slums. But that’s a different story. I can post more but not in this thread which is about good slovak food 🙂

Hello, I hope you can help me find a recipe or i hope you know what im talking about.I will spell it phonetically since i do not know how it is actually spelled…here it goes E-ther-nitz-ya. I remember by mom and grama grinding up the pig head and blowing up the intestines to make this very strong garlic flavored sausage. it was white-ish in color. my mom would usually fry/steam it for breakfast with eggs. I would love to get back in touch with this childhood memory. My grama was bohemian/czech, so i supppose it is a recipe that dates back many many years. thanks for your help.

Dohn Witte – you will truly enjoy jaternica! I made it according to Lubos’s recipe – only difference was that I used deer heat/liver because that’s the meat that I ahd. Very easy and very good! I just enjoyed some over the weekend with eggs and toast.

Follow Lubos’s instructions, and you be re-living happy family memories! 🙂

Lubos,
Very happy I ran onto this site. My Grandmother (Nechvatal) made a special meal for us kids 50 years ago that included mashed potatoes, lots of butter, poppy seed and I’m not sure what else. I thought she called it something like shvetca.? Do you know of that recipe and what it’s name is?

Mine was a little dryer than I like so I added a little olive oil to my mix, also I do not have a smoker for “Smoked Kielbasa” so I added a little “liquid smoke” and it turned out perfectly. Note: You can use a food processor to grind the meat and a funnel and a wooden dowel to stuff the casings.

Happy Holidays

Wishing you all happy holidays and all the best in 2018. Hopefully 2017 was a good year for you all.

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